the butterfly effect
by chidorinnn
Summary: A girl awakens to the power of Persona to fight the Shadows that plague Tatsumi Port Island. It's the same old story that's repeated itself countless times - but this is a spiral, not an endless loop, and a way out is close at hand. AU.
1. A Voice in the Night

The lights promptly shut off just a few minutes after the train finally pulled into its last stop.

Hiyori sighed harshly, and she couldn't see the ceiling when she rolled her eyes. "That late already, huh…?" Without the fluorescent lights, what little warmth was there in the train station quickly disappeared. Her cell phone had been almost at full charge when the train stopped, but now the screen was blank and unresponsive.

No one was watching – no one could have been watching – so she allowed herself one small pout. Hiyori hated being late for things, and arriving close to midnight was beyond ridiculous, even though there was no set time she had to arrive at the dorms.

Hiyori dragged her feet to the nearest bench and unceremoniously plopped down onto it. A single coffin sat next to her, and she nodded sympathetically to it. "Aren't you lucky?" she asked. "You don't have to wait here for a whole hour." She looked downward at her feet and tapped her toes together. "Come to think of it, I don't have to stay here either…" As if on cue, a horrified scream echoed in the distance, and Hiyori winced. "Mm… no, I should just stay here until it passes…"

Footsteps echoed through the previously silent train station, and Hiyori froze. She clutched the strap of her duffel bag tightly with both arms, though she had nowhere near enough strength to swing it at anyone to defend herself, let alone lift it anywhere above her shoulders. Seemingly out of nowhere, a boy stepped out of the darkness, walking toward her in slow, measured steps. Common sense dictated that she put as much distance between herself and the stranger as possible, and yet she remained rooted on the spot, somehow calm and at ease in his presence.

He lifted his hand and laid it gently on her head. "It's nice to finally meet you," he said in a smooth, soothing voice. "Hiyori, is it? Hiyori Mikage."

Somehow, the fact that he knew her name without her even having to introduce herself didn't alarm her as much as it probably should have. His hand left the top of her head, trailing downward through her dark brown hair. There wasn't enough space between her and the coffin next to her for him to sit down, but Hiyori liked to think that the boy wanted to stand regardless. "You're taking this surprisingly well."

She shrugged. "I'm used to it."

"So you're just going to wait here, then?" the boy asked. "Don't you have to go to the dorm?"

"It's not like it'll make any difference. Besides – I'd rather not walk by myself in that."

The boy's smile widened, though how much he was really enjoying the situation was hard to tell. "Then what if I walked you there?"

"If it isn't too much trouble?" Hiyori answered, standing up. "I'm sure you have better places to be, though."

"Not really," the boy said with a shrug.

The walk from the train station was a slow and comfortable one, with only screams in the distance filling the silence. All the while, the boy simply walked next to her, his hands stuffed in his pockets and his MP3 player flopping helplessly along the way. "Um…" Hiyori said quietly. "Who are you?"

The boy stopped between two coffins on the sidewalk. "I'm sorry," he said without looking at her. "There really isn't a simple answer to that."

"Then can you at least tell me your name?"

The boy looked up to the eerily large green moon. "There really isn't a simple answer to that either. What do you want to call me?"

Hiyori shrugged. "I don't know… What do you want to be called?"

The quiet laugh that escaped him sounded more like tiny gasps, and he continued to walk forward. "You're the one hundred and sixty-second person to ask me that," he said. "Well… I suppose Minato is the easiest to answer to. Let's go with that."

They reached the dorm then – a large, austere building. "Thanks, Minato-san," she said.

"It was my pleasure," he replied, taking a couple steps back. "Listen, Hiyori… I need your help with something."

"What is it?"

He ducked his head, his eyebrows furrowing. "Nothing… too far out of the way from what you'd normally have to do."

Hiyori frowned. "You're not making much sense…"

"I'm sorry, but… I'm desperate. If I tell you everything now, then I might have to start all over, and…"

Her stomach twisted into knots – not because there was something not right about the situation, but because it seemed more serious than Minato let on. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay," she said. "I'll help you. What do I have to do?"

His smile faded. "I won't hold you to this, you know," he said, a hard edge to his voice. "You can back out whenever you want. It's your decision."

"I don't have much a reason to back out now, do I?"

He still appeared uneasy, but eventually, he sighed. "Very well. I'll be in touch." As he started fading into the darkness, he reached one hand out toward her, his fingers weaving through the ends of the longest strands of her hair. "I leave my fate in your capable hands, Hiyori." And with that, he was gone.

Hiyori exhaled slowly and stared up at the dorm that loomed before her. Iwatodai dorm looked exactly as it did in her admission pamphlet, but the glow of the moon made it appear almost eerie. She nearly jumped from how cold the doorknob was, but she soon regained her bearings and entered the dorm.

No lights were on inside, and there were no coffins in the lounge – and why would there be? Everyone was probably in their rooms, asleep as they should be. Hiyori dropped her duffel bag as she crouched down to remove her shoes.

"Who's there?"

The voice that called out sounded more afraid than threatening. A girl with short brown hair came bounding down the stairs, a gun grasped tightly in her hands. "Wh-What?" she gasped. "Are you…?"

Then light and warmth flooded the dormitory as the heavy, oppressive feeling from before evaporated instantly. "Um…" Hiyori said slowly. The girl moved to hide the gun behind her, but the gesture was pointless now. "I'm Hiyori. I was supposed to move in here tonight? But—"

"Ah, you're finally here." A woman glided down the stairs, her red curls bouncing behind her. "I didn't think you'd arrive so late." She gestured toward the couches with a graceful wave of her arm. "Come, sit. Takeba, will you…?"

"Y-Yeah!" the brown-haired girl yelped as she picked up Hiyori's duffel bag. "Right away!"

Hiyori slowly made her way to the couch and sat down across from the red-haired woman. "Are you Kirijo-san?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," the woman answered. "You may call me Mitsuru if it makes you comfortable, as I'm a student as well. I believe you were supposed to contact me when you reached so that someone could escort you here?"

"R-Right! Sorry about that… It was really late, and I didn't want to cause any trouble, so I just… came by myself." It wasn't the complete truth, but it was hard to explain nameless phantom boys appearing and disappearing at random.

"You walked here by yourself?" the brown-haired girl asked. The more Hiyori looked at her, the more difficult it was to shake off how familiar this girl seemed. "In that?" When Hiyori averted her eyes downward, the girl immediately backtracked. "Oh, sorry, I meant—"

"Takeba," Mitsuru said sharply. "Why don't you show her to her room? She's probably fatigued from her journey here."

As the girl stood up, pressing her hand against the armrest of the sofa for support, Hiyori frowned. She'd seen that girl somewhere before, and the name fit her almost too well. "Yeah, sure." She slung Hiyori's duffel bag and pointed her thumb toward the stairs, her eyes never quite leaving Hiyori's. "This way."

Hiyori's room was on the third floor, and the prospect of climbing two flights of stairs to get there made her want to groan. Not even halfway through the second flight of stairs, she struggled to breathe evenly, to look less tired and winded than she felt. Takeba, on the other hand, looked like she could take the steps by two without even breaking into a sweat. "Hey, um…" Takeba said slowly once they neared the top. "This is… kind of a weird question, but did you live here before? I mean, on Port Island."

They stopped by a door at the end of the hall, and Hiyori leaned tiredly against the wall. "Yeah, I did," she answered. "I moved away when I was still in grade school, though."

Takeba's eyes widened in shock, and then she gave a relieved smile. "So I was right!" She chuckled. "You stopped coming to the shrine so suddenly, I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

The image of a girl with brown hair pulled back by a pink ribbon flashed through Hiyori's mind. "Wait, you're… Yukari?"

Yukari laughed again. "Yup! Looks like we'll finally be attending the same school again. Let's go together in the morning, okay?"

Hiyori nodded, and she didn't have to put effort into her smile.

* * *

The previous year, Hiyori's first day of high school had begun on a rainy day. Uncle had left for work early in the morning – or maybe he'd been working overseas at the time – so breakfast with Auntie and her cousin Yuuta had been a relatively quiet affair. Auntie had accidentally ordered her school uniform a size too big, and it was by sheer force of will that Hiyori's pink sweater kept it in place.

"Your mock exam scores lowered again," Auntie had scolded Yuuta.

"I know, I know," the third year had grumbled in response. "I'm just in a slump. I'm working on it."

"You do realize that entrance exams are—"

"Almost a whole year from now! I'm fine!"

Hiyori quietly set down her chopsticks. "Thanks for the food," she said quietly. The table had been one of those small, traditional types where everyone sat around it on the floor, and Hiyori's legs bumped against it as she stood up. Her portion of eggs had been significantly smaller than Auntie's and especially Yuuta's – she told herself that it was just a mistake on Auntie's part and not at all intentional – but the usual first-day-at-new-school nervousness had made it nearly impossible to eat even that much.

Outside, Yuuta had insisted on walking several paces in front of her, taking the only umbrella for himself and leaving Hiyori to walk in the rain. She'd caught an awful cold because of it, and she'd slept so long in the school infirmary that she arrived at Auntie's house well into Yuuta's cram school.

This year, however, was different. Hiyori had strolled into her new high school with her head held high, walking side by side with Yukari under a bright sun and canopy of cherry blossoms. It was like something straight out of an anime, and Gekkoukan High School was, without a doubt, infinitely more beautiful in person than it looked in the pamphlets. At the end of a blissfully smooth first day at a new school, Hiyori hugged her school bag close to her and smiled contentedly.

"Hey transfer student!"

Hiyori jumped in surprise. The face of one her classmates – a tall, lanky boy wearing a baseball cap – was suddenly very, very close to hers.

The boy jumped back and gave her a wide grin. "Sorry. Didn't mean to spook you like that." He pointed to himself with his thumb. "Hiyori, right? I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya!"

"Leave her alone, Junpei," Yukari said in a deadpan from the seat in front of her. Hiyori exhaled slowly, thankful that she had at least one person she knew in her class. "Isn't it a little early in the term to be hitting on people?"

"Hey, I'm just bein' friendly here!" Junpei cried indignantly.

Yukari rolled her eyes. "Sure you were." She stood up from her desk and slung her school bag over her shoulder. "Sorry, but I have to stay back for some archery club stuff. Think you can get back to the dorm okay?"

Junpei suddenly slung his arm around Hiyori's shoulder. "Worry not, Takeba-san! I'll walk Hiyo-chan home. Can I call you that, by the way?"

Hiyori leaned away from Junpei, hoping that she wasn't offending him. "I guess?"

"All right then!" He tugged on her arm and pulled her out of the classroom. "Let's go!"

* * *

Isako Toriumi stared down at the new student's file, her brows knotting together.

Hiyori Mikage. Date of birth: March 5. Age: sixteen. Grade: eleven. Parents: Kazuya and Yuka Mikage, deceased as of 1999. Admitted to Gekkoukan High School under an academic scholarship sponsored by the Kirijo Group. Ranked at the top of her class in her previous high school in Shizuoka. Stellar transcripts from middle schools in Nara and Fukuoka. Nothing of great importance behavior-wise, except for a vaguely formidable vibe that clashed with her overly polite manner of speech.

Well that can't be helped, the composition teacher surmised. With how much this girl has been through, it's no wonder she keeps everyone at a distance.

And then, something in her mind pulsed.

Suddenly, the photograph clipped to the top of the file no longer looked so much like the new student. Instead, there was a boy, a boy with dark blue, almost black hair – no, it was a girl, a girl with orange hair – or was it brown? – no, it was—

"Slacking off again, are we Ms. Toriumi?"

Later, Isako Toriumi would not be able to remember what she'd angrily snapped back to Mr. Ekoda – but when she looked back down at the student file, all she could see was Hiyori Mikage staring back up at her.

* * *

"I'm home," Hiyori called out of habit when she entered the dorm building. She mentally chided herself for expecting an answer – it was a good thing that no one would be there to answer her, she reminded herself.

Still, she wasn't alone in the dorm building. An older man sat at a couch in the lounge, sipping tea from a small cup. He looked up at Hiyori, and the smile that spread across his features seemed to be directed somewhere beyond her. "Welcome back," he said.

"Ah…" Hiyori bowed quickly. "Hello. I'm Hiyori Mikage. I just transferred here."

The man finally seemed to focus on her, and the tension in his shoulders disappeared. "I'm aware," he said. "I've been meaning to speak with you, actually. My name is Shuji Ikutsuki, and I'm the chairman at Gekkoukan High."

"It's nice to meet you," Hiyori said, bowing again.

Ikutsuki chuckled. "Well, aren't you polite? I'm so sorry, but it seems that there's been a bit of a mix up with the paperwork regarding your transfer. You'll only be staying here for a bit longer, I'm afraid. Sorry for the confusion."

"Ah…" Hiyori said slowly. Yukari was still in her class, she reminded herself, even if they wouldn't be living in the same dorm anymore. "It's… no problem. Thank you for coming all this way to tell me."

The door swung open behind her. The student behind her was tall, so tall that her height only came up to just below his chest. He wore Gekkoukan's uniform's jacket, unbuttoned to reveal a black turtleneck in place of the uniform's white shirt, and a grey hat that covered his head so that it nearly covered his eyes. "S-Sorry…" Hiyori whispered, quickly stepping away from him.

The boy continued to stare at her, even as she removed her shoes and stepped into the lounge, frowning not quite directly at her. "Ah, Shinjiro," the chairmen greeted him. "Have you met the new transfer student? Hiyori, this is Shinjiro. He's a third year living in this dorm, like Mitsuru."

"It's nice to meet you," Hiyori said politely, bowing to the upperclassman.

"Tch," Shinjiro said in response, averting his eyes to the side and shuffling past her and up the stairs.

Ikutsuki sighed. "You'll have to excuse him," he said. "He's… not quite that friendly. I'm sure that was just his way of saying hello!"

It wasn't, Hiyori didn't have the heart to tell the chairman.

"Now, why don't you get some rest?" Ikutsuki suggested. "You must be exhausted from all this excitement."

"I think I'll do that," Hiyori agreed. "It was nice meeting you, Ikutsuki-san." She bowed to him one last time before heading up to her room.

Climbing the two flights of stairs to the third floor left her more out of breath than it had the previous night. Common sense dictated that she eat something before sleeping, but her body felt heavy and her eyelids threatened to shut with the exhaustion that had pushed itself to the front of her mind. She went straight to bed after changing into a clean set of pajamas…

… and woke up to a dark room illuminated by an eerily large green moon. Hiyori kept her eyes shut in hopes that she'd fall back asleep quickly enough, but sleep remained stubbornly out of her grasp. She sat up with an irritated huff. Perhaps she shouldn't have been quite so quick to require to bed, she surmised, but first days at new schools always exhausted her.

"It's been a while, Hiyori."

She couldn't help smiling as a familiar presence sat down on her bed. "It's been less than a week, Ryoji."

Her friend smiled at her. "That's still a long time," he said. "So are you liking it here so far? You were so excited to come."

"It's amazing," she answered honestly. "It's everything I thought it would be."

Maybe it was the late hour – or maybe it was her own exhaustion slowly clouding her senses again – but Ryoji's smile became a bit strained. "That's good," he said quietly. He pat her head gently, just like he'd always done. "Take care, okay? And don't hesitate to call on me if you need to."

"I know, I know…"

He chuckled, and Hiyori lay back down. It didn't take any effort for her to keep her eyes closed now. "Remember," she heard Ryoji say, "I'll always be here."

* * *

Shinjiro Aragaki sat in the fourth floor of the dormitory with his hands stuffed in his pockets, counting the seconds until the Dark Hour was supposed to end. "Don't we have more important things to worry about?" he grumbled. "Apathy Syndrome isn't gonna cure itself." No one responded, too focused on the sleeping girl on the screen. "You know, this probably counts as harassment."

Akihiko swiveled his chair around to glare at him. "Not all of us got to meet her," he retorted. "What was her name? Hikari… Himari…"

"Hiyori," Shinjiro corrected. "What good is staring at her gonna do anyway? She hasn't twitched in over an hour."

"I agree with Senpai…" Yukari said slowly. "This is weird."

"But she hasn't Transmogrified," Mitsuru pointed out. "If she's retained her human form, then she is currently experiencing the Dark Hour, whether she's conscious or not."

"She must have the potential," the chairman mused. "If she didn't, then we'd have a bigger problem on our hands."

Akihiko grimaced as he flipped through the girl's file for the fifth time since the Dark Hour had started. "Even if she does have the potential, she may not even be able to properly fight for us." Shinjiro tuned out the rest of Akihiko's complaints – he'd heard more than enough about frequent illnesses and inconvenient iron deficiencies for one day.

With a harsh sigh, Shinjiro slammed his hand down on one of the buttons on the keyboard, and the screens went blank. He ignored the cries of outrage that immediately ensued, content that the girl would have at least another half hour of peaceful, undisturbed sleep, free from the scrutiny of her dorm mates.

* * *

Friday night, when everything was dark and the moon was eerily large and green, a loud crash echoed through the dormitory and jolted Hiyori awake. Ryoji flickered in front of her as she slowly climbed out of bed, his body so translucent that she could almost see through him. "Hiyori?" he said. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," she answered. "I thought I just heard something, but…" There was another crash, and she jumped. "What was that?"

Paradoxically, Ryoji smiled wistfully. "Oh… it's that time again…"

"What do you mean?" Hiyori asked. "What time? Ryoji, what are you talking about?"

"There's no time to explain," he whispered.

There were three loud knocks at her door. "Wake up!" Yukari shouted from the other side, her voice high-pitched and panicked. Ryoji flickered out of existence when Yukari thrust open the door and ran into the room. "Come on, we have to go! Now!"

"Wh-What?" Hiyori stammered.

Yukari grabbed Hiyori's wrist and dragged her out of the room. They ran down the hallway, to the stairs. "Takeba!" Mitsuru's voice yelled as if from somewhere close by, even though the third year was nowhere to be seen. "There's more than one enemy! The one here isn't the one that Akihiko saw!"

"Enemy?" Hiyori echoed faintly. "What—"

"Look out!" Yukari cried. The taller girl slammed into Hiyori, pushing her to the ground just before the window next to them shattered. Something large and black loomed outside, and a blue mask-like face stared blankly at them. "Are you okay?" Yukari asked. All Hiyori could do was stare at the now profusely bleeding cut on her friend's leg.

But before she could utter a single word, Yukari began pulling her up the stairs, up past the fourth floor and onto the roof. "We should be safe up here," Yukari panted. She thrust the door to the rooftop open, and the biting cold air hit Hiyori like it was a punch in the stomach.

Hiyori put her hands on her knees in order to catch her breath. "What's… happening…?"

And then, a large hand grasped the edge of the roof. The monster that pulled itself onto the rooftop was massive, its familiar blue mask face as blank as ever. The rest of its body seemed to be made of several long appendages, some carrying knives or swords of some sort.

"Get back!" Yukari said as she stepped protectively in front of Hiyori. From the holster on her leg, she pulled out what looked suspiciously like a gun and pressed it to her temples.

"No!" Hiyori shouted. "Don't—"

One of the monster's tendrils that wasn't holding a sharp object slammed into Yukari, knocking her to the side. The gun fell to the ground where she once was. "Hiyori!" she yelled. "Run! Go back into the dorm, and go find Mitsuru-senpai or Shinjiro-senpai! They can…"

Hiyori didn't hear another word. Time seemed to slow down as she picked up Yukari's discarded gun. Its metal surface felt slightly warm from how tightly Yukari had been gripping it earlier, and it felt light – almost like it was a toy, rather than an actual weapon.

Yukari continued to scream in the background. Hiyori pointed the gun at the monster with shaking hands, but nothing happened when she pulled the trigger. The monster raised one of its swords

Hiyori shut her eyes and waited for the blow to come. In her mind, in a vast expanse of white, she saw Minato, nodding, his expression serious.

With both hands, Hiyori pushed the gun to her forehead like Yukari had done before. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she didn't think. There was no logical explanation for what she was about to do, and yet it felt right.

Per…so…na…

Hiyori pulled the trigger, and suddenly, something sparked in her mind. There was no pain, but she felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Thou art I, said a man's voice in her mind, a whisper that only she could hear, and I am thou. I am Aeacus, keeper of the keys to the underworld. From the sea of thy soul, I come to thee.

Aeacus rose higher, higher above her like he was some sort of guardian angel. He raised his scepter, his black robes fluttering in the wind, and brought it down on the monster. Seemingly nonsensical words floated to Hiyori's mind, but they fit as well as pulling the gun's trigger on her own head did. "Bufu…?"

Aeacus's robes fluttered as what looked like ice burst around the monster. The ice spread as Aeacus continued his assault, but the monster barely flinched from the assault. Yukari screamed again for her to run. No… I have to…

And then, there was another spark in her mind. The gun fell from Hiyori's hands as waves of burning, searing pain pulsated through her head. It felt like her head was splitting open, and she sank to her knees as she screamed. A dark figure before her ripped the monster to shreds, slashing at it with a sword until there was nothing but droplets of black liquid left. Aeacus was nowhere to be found.

In an instant, it was over. Aeacus returned in a brief flicker of light, replacing the dark figure that had vanquished the monster. "Hiyori!" Yukari yelled again, oddly muffled to Hiyori's ears. Hiyori tipped sideways, and darkness overtook her too quickly for her to fight it.

* * *

Shuji Ikutsuki drummed his fingers against his knee. Specks of dust had settled on his glasses, obscuring his view of a familiar scene. Mitsuru was now trying to force Akihiko to stay on the fourth floor while she went up to the roof to offer her assistance. In the live feed of the rooftop, Yukari pressed a handkerchief against the gash on her thigh and Shinjiro attended to the unconscious Hiyori.

The chairman focused his attention on the full moon in the background. And so, it begins.


	2. The Pink Alligator

_And now we get into some really surreal and vaguely pretentious shenanigans. Enjoy!_

* * *

The staircase spiraled higher and higher. Hiyori continued to climb more because she couldn't imagine doing anything else, rather than because she wanted to see where the stairs ended. A woman walked a few steps in front of her, long brown hair cascading down her shoulders and a red scarf flowing behind her. Whether she'd noticed Hiyori or not, she said nothing. "Hey," Hiyori said when she climbed more than she'd normally have to in order to reach her room in the dormitory. The woman didn't so much as flinch. "This is a dream, isn't it?"

Without missing a step, the woman chuckled lightly. "What makes you think so?"

"I'm not getting tired," Hiyori answered.

The woman chuckled again. "Well, aren't you an interesting one? Usually, the first thing people ask is what's at the end of these stairs."

"If this is a dream, then that shouldn't matter."

The woman stopped abruptly and spun around so that her back faced the bannister. She put both hands on the railing and lazily kicked her feet out in front of her, laughing all the while. "You _are_ an interesting one." There was more laughter in her bright red eyes than in the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. "You're looking for something, aren't you? That's why you're here."

"I… don't know?"

The woman tilted her head back, staring up the black expanse above. "There was once an alligator," she said. "He was born in the calm forest of green, but he turned out to be pink. He was so pink that he couldn't hunt for food, and so he was always hungry. But the other animals – they hated him. Soon, he started believing that he was just as awful as they said he was. So the pink alligator put on a mask. He was always very polite, tried to cause as little trouble as possible in hopes that the other animals would accept him. But the animals _didn't_ accept him, even though the pink alligator kept this mask on all the time. Before long, he didn't know what his true self was anymore."

"I bet she's just doing it for the attention!" said a cacophony in her mind, the voices of too many aunts, uncles, and cousins to count.

"Why are you telling me this?" Hiyori asked.

The woman's red eyes shone like two beacons. "Isn't this what you were looking for?"

"Why would I?"

The woman laughed again, and a shiver ran down Hiyori's spine. "Oh, I don't know. Perhaps to indulge in a bit of self pity?"

"What difference would that make? It's not going to change anything."

The woman tilted her head back and stared at Hiyori from the corner of her eye. "Could it be that you don't _know_ what it is you're looking for?" Hiyori couldn't answer. "Then, when you learn what that is, you'll come back here."

"I can't really do that unless you tell me who you are."

The woman laughed. "I've gone by so many names, they're all meaningless to me now. But, I suppose you'll have to call me _something_." Her smile was brighter than the sun. "Minako will have to do."

And then, Hiyori fell. It didn't quite feel like she was falling – rather like she was slipping away, slowly and gently. As Minako grew farther and farther away, Hiyori could no longer see her brown hair, her golden dress, her red scarf – only her red eyes, still shining in the darkness as the stairs disintegrated into glittering dust. "Don't forget, okay?" said Minako's voice in her mind. "I'll be waiting."

* * *

Everything was too bright and too loud, and the air smelled too strongly of antiseptic. Hiyori's body felt heavy, and yet her head felt very, very light. She didn't have to open her eyes to know that she was in the hospital – the IV in her right arm made it obvious.

"Are you awake?"

Yukari's face blurred above hers. Hiyori blinked a few times, and her vision cleared slowly. "Yu…kari…"

"Oh, thank goodness," Yukari sighed. "You were unconscious for so long, I didn't think you were ever going to wake up."

The sunlight was harsh, even through her closed eyelids. It made her head hurt. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I caused trouble for you, didn't I?"

Yukari frowned. "Wait… Caused trouble? You?"

"I collapsed, didn't I?" Hiyori asked.

"I mean… yeah, you did, but still… You don't remember what happened?"

Hiyori frowned. Something about monsters and fake guns skirted the edge of her mind, but it couldn't have been anything more than yet another nightmare. It wouldn't have been the first one after coming back to Port Island, at any rate.

"So…" Yukari said slowly. "You don't remember the Shadow or your Persona or anything?"

Hiyori bolted upright, ignoring the IV tugging on her arm. Everything came back to her with startling clarity – images flashing through her mind so quickly that she could barely process them. "That was real?" Everything spun, and she pressed her hand against her forehead.

"Hey!" Yukari's hand was suddenly on her back, and Hiyori lay back down with her help. "You shouldn't get up so fast."

"Sorry," Hiyori said again. She exhaled slowly and waited for everything to stop spinning.

Yukari shook her head and smiled. "It's fine." She sat down at the stool next to the hospital bed and clasped her hands together in her lap. Thick bandages were wrapped around her thigh – where she'd been cut, if Hiyori remembered correctly. "Actually… I'm the one who should be apologizing. I've been such an awful friend…"

"You didn't do anything, though."

"That's exactly it!" Yukari sighed harshly. "I… I know about what happened to you. Your parents died in that explosion ten years ago, right?" Hiyori couldn't bring herself to answer. "I kind of understand. My dad died back then, too. It must've been so hard for you to come back here, and I didn't do anything to help make things easier. And then all _this_ had to happen…" Yukari sighed and shook her head. "I'll go call the doctor, okay? He couldn't find anything wrong with you, so you should be good to go soon."

"Okay," Hiyori said. "Thanks."

"And don't worry. I promise, we'll explain everything."

* * *

The hospital had been rife with gossip that week – apparently, the Kirijo heiress had personally brought in an ill high school girl. The nurses tended to gossip around Akinari Kamiki – they liked to think he either couldn't hear them, or that he simply didn't care.

For reasons he didn't understand, Akinari was compelled to visit the girl Kirijo had brought in – perhaps it was his own curiosity, to indulge in the nurses' gossip. The first day, she'd been white as a ghost, lying still on her bed with the only indication that she was still alive being the steady beeping of the heart monitor and the whirring of various life support machines. By the third day, only the IV drip remained, and the rise and fall of the girl's chest was more visible.

Today, on the ninth day, she sat outside the bed sheets, her newly washed brown hair pulled into two long pigtails that hung over her shoulders and her equally brown eyes wide and open. She wore a large, baggy white and blue sweater over black pants, instead of the normal hospital shift, a sure sign that she was going to leave soon. A girl with shorter, lighter brown hair helped her stand and guided her toward the door.

And that was Akinari's cue to leave. The girls didn't notice him – he'd done nothing to warrant their attention, after all – but as they walked farther and farther away, the less _real_ everything felt.

And then, the image of a girl with red eyes and pins in her hair flashed through his mind. Logically, he hadn't seen such a girl even once during his lifetime – and yet, he needed to remember her. They sat together on a bench at the Naganaki Shrine, just sitting and talking about meaningless things.

But before he could commit the image to his memory, his companion changed – instead of a girl, it was a boy with silver eyes and a tired smile.

Logically, Akinari knew that he hadn't seen either the boy or the girl even once during his lifetime – and yet, he needed to remember them. They were both real, and they weren't, as they danced along the edge of his memory.

"Akinari-kun?" A nurse had laid her hand on his bony shoulder, looking concerned. She looked young, inexperienced – judging by the clipboard tucked messily under her arm, Akinari suspected some accidental needle pricks and vague condescension in his future.

"I'm all right," he said with a polite smile. "I just decided to go for a walk."

"Are you all right?" the nurse asked him pointlessly, even though he'd just given her an answer. "Would you like me to come with you?"

"I'll be all right," Akinari answered. "Thank you."

He set off in the same direction the girls had before, not really looking for a particular destination.

* * *

Hiyori gave up all pretenses of wellness when she leaned tiredly against the wall while struggling to catch her breath outside the lounge on the fourth floor of the dormitory. "Are you okay?" Yukari asked. Hiyori managed a small nod, and Yukari huffed in disapproval. "I _told_ them we should've just had the meeting on the first floor…"

"It's okay," Hiyori gasped. She pushed off from the wall and tried to hide how she felt like she was going to collapse again. "I'm fine."

Yukari frowned and pursed her lips together. "Let's just get this over with."

The lounge on the fourth floor was spacious, with a large screen on one wall and a few soft-looking couches scattered across the center. Mitsuru, the chairman, and an unfamiliar boy with silver hair sat on one couch while Shinjiro sat on the armrest of another. "Welcome," said the chairman, giving her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Are you feeling better?"

"For the most part," Hiyori answered. She sat gingerly on the couch whose armrest Shinjiro occupied, careful not to sit too close to him. "I'm so sorry about all of this…"

"It was no trouble at all," Ikutsuki replied. "Actually, we called you here to discuss… well, to discuss the conditions of your stay in the hospital."

Hiyori clasped her hands tightly in her lap. The memories of the night she'd collapsed were clearer now, and they felt more real, as impossible as they seemed. The monster that had attacked the dormitory, the fake gun, Aeacus… "What happened that night?" she whispered.

"Tch," Shinjiro said next to her.

"I'm sorry," Hiyori said again.

"Wait, he wasn't trying to—" the silver-haired boy started. "Shinji…"

"Alright," Shinjiro said briskly. "So you know about the Dark Hour, right?"

"The what now?"

"It's a pocket of time hidden between one day and the next," said the silver-haired boy.

"This essentially means that a day lasts for more than twenty-four hours," Mitsuru elaborated. "Though judging by your reaction, am I right in assuming that that night wasn't your first conscious experience with the Dark Hour?"

"I didn't know that's what it was called," Hiyori said slowly, "or… that other people could see it too."

The silver-haired boy smirked to Mitsuru. "So when did you first start seeing it?" he asked.

"A long time ago," Hiyori answered. "Back when… when I first moved from Port Island."

It had been horrifying then, too. A nightmare had woken her up to a dark and eerily green world, less than a month after she'd moved, and her aunt, uncle, and cousin were nowhere to be found, coffins where they were supposed to be… Hiyori had cried until long after it passed, her uncle clumsily trying to calm her down while her cousin Maho complained loudly to her aunt. "I bet she's just doing it for the attention," her aunt had said back then, every time she found Hiyori crying.

The silver-haired boy exchanged a look with Mitsuru. "So, all this time, you haven't noticed them?" Mitsuru asked. "The Shadows."

Hiyori winced as she recalled the monster that had attacked them earlier. "Are they always that… big?"

The silver-haired boy smirked. "Not always, but it's exciting to fight strong ones like that, isn't it?"

"Akihiko!" Mitsuru snapped. "Why are you always like that?"

"What he meant to say," Shinjiro interjected, "was that those things only ever show up in the Dark Hour. And that _thing_ was something else."

"So…" Hiyori said slowly. "If they show up during the Dark Hour, then why wasn't I ever attacked before now?"

"It's hard to say," Ikutsuki answered, "but I'm willing to bet that it has a lot to do with the power inside you. Maybe it's been protecting you for all these years." He cleared his throat and lifted a small suitcase from the table at the center of the room and handed it to her. "I suppose we should cut right to the chase, so that you can get some rest." Inside was a gun much like the fake one Yukari had used – or tried to use – the night the Shadow had attacked, and a red armband with the letters "SEES" embroidered onto it. "We're the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad – SEES for short. Our mission is to defeat the Shadows."

"As of last week, you're no longer a stranger to the power of Persona," said the silver-haired boy, Akihiko, "so you should already know how this Evoker works."

"Will you lend us your strength?" Mitsuru asked.

Yukari sighed, but didn't say anything in response. Hiyori took the gun in her hands. Its surface was blissfully cool, and its weight felt familiar in her hands. A man's voice whispered excitedly at the back of her mind. "I'll do it," she said more because she didn't want to see their hopeful looks morph into looks of disappointment.

Mitsuru and Akihiko exchanged relieved smiles. "Welcome aboard," Mitsuru said warmly.

"I've already devised a training regimen to get you into shape," Akihiko said.

"Ah…" Hiyori said uncertainly. "Thank you. I'll do my best."

"Tch," Shinjiro said too quietly for anyone but Hiyori to hear, averting his eyes to the side and scowling.

* * *

The smell of cooking meat was overpowering.

It wasn't a bad smell, but it made Hiyori think of relatives she'd stayed with who tried to cut down on hospital bills by forcing copious amounts of protein down her throat. But the smell that came from the kitchen was pleasant, if anything, with the smell onions and garlic and other seasonings mixing into it.

Surprisingly, it was Shinjiro she found in the kitchen, instead of Yukari or Mitsuru. He wore a pink apron over his school uniform, and he'd pulled his hair back into a low ponytail. He'd never struck her much as a morning person, but here he was, awake hours before school was supposed to start.

"Um…" Hiyori said slowly. Shinjiro startled, blinking at her in a way that suggested that she didn't belong there. "S-Sorry. I'll just…"

"Wait," he said. He stared downward, avoiding her gaze, and began piling chunks of meat into a bento. "You have anemia, right? If you're going to fight for us, then you need to take care of that." He handed her the bento after closing it and looked to the side.

Hiyori couldn't fight the blush that rapidly formed at that. She'd heard of girls giving lunchboxes to the guys they liked, but a guy giving a lunchbox to a girl whom he'd just met? That was practically unheard of.

His face turned red as well, and Hiyori took the bento from him with shaking hands. "Um… Th-Thank you. I mean, you didn't have to… I mean… Thanks."

He began piling what was left in the pan into another bento and grunted something in affirmation.

She didn't ask for permission to travel to school with him, but they left together anyway – if Shinjiro had a problem with it, he didn't voice it. The monorail was almost completely empty, but the two of them sat next to each other anyway. Hiyori dozed off for a few minutes, thankfully tipping toward the window instead of onto him, and Shinjiro was nice enough to nudge her awake just before the monorail stopped at the last station.

The bento in her bag felt conspicuously heavy as she walked through the school gates with them. There were hardly any students around – no one to stare at them, to ask why they'd come to school together. "I'm going to the faculty office," Hiyori said, the first words she'd said to him since before they left the dorm together. Shinjiro grunted in affirmation. "Um…" She bowed clumsily before him. "Excuse me!"

She sighed in relief as she finally put some distance between herself and Shinjiro, but it would be a long time before her heart stopped thundering in her chest and her palms stopped sweating. A few short minutes of having no one hovering over her shoulder, no one watching her every move lest she collapse again, were better than nothing.

The faculty office was just as she remembered it – except there was only Ms. Toriumi and Mr. Ekoda inside. Her homeroom teacher stood up the second she noticed her presence. "You're back!" Ms. Toriumi said sharply.

Hiyori bowed her head. "I'm so sorry," she said. It wasn't the first time she'd had to apologize like this, and it likely wouldn't be the last. "I…"

Ms. Toriumi smiled gently – and she too wasn't the first to do so. "I was worried about you," she said. "It's not right for kids your age to be so exhausted that they collapse." She sighed. "I wonder if it's because of all your recent changes…"

"I'm sorry," Hiyori said again. "I promise, I can make up the work—"

Her teacher laid her hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it," she said. "I'll come up with something. Why don't you head over the classroom now? We can talk more after school."

Hiyori nodded. "Thank you."

There were students crowded in the hallway by the time Hiyori left the faculty office, and though the other students left her alone, the walk to her classroom was much louder and less peaceful than her walk to the faculty office. Junpei and Yukari were already in their seats when she slid into hers. "Yo, Hiyo-chan!" Junpei greeted. "You're finally back! Must've been one hell of a cold to knock you out for a week, huh?"

"Leave her alone, Junpei," Yukari said in a deadpan.

"All right, settle down!" the teacher barked from the front of the classroom, and Hiyori settled quickly settled back into a familiar routine.

* * *

Hiyori was halfway through the packet of homework Ms. Toriumi had given her to make up for the week of school she'd missed when there was a knock at her door. "It's open," Hiyori called without looking up.

Mitsuru pushed the door open gently. "Come to the lounge on the fourth floor," she said. "We're having a meeting."

Hiyori stood up from her desk after finishing the problem she'd been working on. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know we were—"

"It's fine," Mitsuru said. "So I hear you've been adjusting to the school well."

"Oh, um…" Hiyori said slowly. "It's nice. I like it here."

"Good," Mitsuru replied. "Some of the faculty has expressed some concern about your health, and with SEES activities, I fear that their concerns will not be entirely unfounded."

"I'll be all right, Senpai." For further emphasis, Hiyori regulated her breathing while climbing the stairs so that she appeared much less winded than she felt – she still felt tired and groggy, even though it had been a day since she left the hospital, and it was hard to tell if it was due to residual exhaustion from her hospital stay or from her anemia.

Yukari and Ikutsuki were already sitting on the couches in the lounge, and Shinjiro lurked in the corner of the room. "Hey!" Yukari greeted as Hiyori sat down next to her. "How are you feeling? Any better?"

"I'm okay," Hiyori answered, not for the first time. It felt like everyone had been asking her this question, lately. "Really."

"Well," Mitsuru said sharply. "I've called this meeting to—"

But before she could continue, the doors to the lounge swung open, and Akihiko strolled in with school uniform jacket slung over his shoulder. A boy walked in behind him, wearing an all too familiar grin.

"Junpei?" Yukari shrieked. "What are you doing here?"

He waved at her almost carelessly. "'Sup, Yuka-tan?"

"This is Junpei Iori from Class 2-F," Akihiko said. "He'll be staying here from today onward."

"Welcome," Hiyori greeted him politely.

"Akihiko says that he has the potential," Mitsuru said, a twinge of pride to her voice.

"Junpei?" Yukari demanded. "_He_ has the potential? You've got to be kidding me!"

Junpei chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "So there were some coffins at the convenience store the other night, and Senpai here found me cryin' like a baby, so, uh… I'll do my best?"

"Welcome aboard, Mr. Iori," the chairman said. "Now that we have more Persona users, perhaps we can finally commence the exploration of Tartarus at midnight tonight."

"Tartarus?" Hiyori echoed. "Like the underworld?"

"Oh, you haven't seen it yet, huh?" Yukari asked. "It's… well, it's kind of…"

Mitsuru chuckled. "You'll see."

* * *

Takaya Sakaki smirked when Jin slammed his laptop shut as the lights flickered off and the sky turned green. Chidori didn't move, squinting through the dim moonlight at the canvas before her. "No calls tonight," Takaya said. Jin huffed in affirmation. Chidori didn't react.

Without another word, Takaya slinked out the front door to their shared apartment. He didn't miss the girl standing by his door with her back against the wall, with her golden dress, her red scarf and equally red eyes, and the pins in her long brown hair positioned into the number twenty-two. "It's been a long time, Takaya-kun," she said. Her voice was lighter and airier than he expected, and it tugged at the corners of his memory.

Takaya stopped, shoving his hands in his pockets, and turned to face her. "Do I know you?" he asked, though he supposed that he should already know the answer.

The girl glided toward him and pushed a few greasy strands of hair behind his ear with an ice-cold hand. She was shorter than him – shorter than Chidori, even – and her full height only came up to his collarbone. Still, there was something imposing about her, something larger than _him_.

"Maybe," she said, and her breath tickled the skin on his throat. He dipped his head downward for reasons he didn't understand, and she pressed her forehead to his. "But I _definitely_ know you. We _are_ brothers, after all."

All of a sudden, the past came crashing down onto him in a deluge of images and voices. His laugh sounded hollow and brittle in his ears, and her lips curved upward into a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Yes, of course. Sleep and death – the sons of Nyx. "Oh Thanatos, how I've missed you."

"Takaya?"

The girl withdrew her hand, allowing Takaya to turn to face his comrade. Jin looked straight at him. "Who were you just talking to? Is everything okay?"

Jin didn't see her – he never did. "Everything's fine," Takaya said.

"Okay…" Jin said slowly, uncertainly, just like he had many times before. The shorter boy walked back into the apartment with an uneasy frown. Takaya gave the girl one last smirk as he followed suit.

Her red eyes gleamed in the moonlight. The smile she gave him was beautiful and cold – just like death itself.

* * *

She led them to the school gates later that night. "Aw c'mon, Senpai!" Junpei wailed. "We only have to go back in the morning!"

"Would you just be quiet and watch?" Yukari snapped.

"Are there Shadows in the school?" Hiyori asked.

"You'll see," Mitsuru said again, chuckling. "Akihiko, you—"

"I know, I know," Akihiko grumbled. "I'm staying at the entrance."

"I'll make sure he does," Shinjiro said in a low voice. "So that he doesn't go charging in like an idiot—"

"What did you say?"

But before either of them could get another word in the sky shifted from dark blue-grey to dark green. In the blink of an eye, the school began to shift and grow, spiraling up higher and higher as pathways and corridors jutted out from the side, connecting windows seemingly at random. You could practically touch the moon from the highest point with how close to it the tower had stopped. There were no traces on the tower of the school it once had been.

"Everyone," said Mitsuru, "welcome to Tartarus."


	3. The Gods and Demons We Harbor

_There's a reference to a real Shin Megoomy Tensay game in this. (As real a Shin Megoomy Tensay game as Digital Devil Saga is...) _

_In which Hiyori's role as a mere passenger in this story is cemented as her own story takes a back seat._

* * *

"Hiyo-chan, on your left!"

Hiyori clumsily swung the rapier Mitsuru had given her in the Shadow's general direction. She misjudged the distance and stumbled, the rapier's weight almost sending her crashing to the ground. Her body moved slowly and sluggishly – not gracefully like Yukari's when she let arrows fly at her enemies. Hiyori needed to eat more of that meat Shinjiro had made her earlier that day – or maybe she just needed to sleep.

Junpei swung his own sword like it was a baseball bat. It was crude, but effective – the Shadow quickly disintegrated into a mass of black liquid.

"You okay?" Yukari asked as she fingered the trigger of her Evoker. She was panting only slightly – she'd cast a few too many healing spells, and likely wouldn't be able to cast any more if they kept asking her to fix every minor scrape.

But before either of them could answer, Hiyori saw another Shadow approaching Yukari from behind. She didn't even bother with the rapier – she went straight for her Evoker, letting Aeacus finish the Shadow off with a Bufu spell. When her Persona disappeared, Hiyori suddenly found it very difficult to remain standing.

"That's enough for today," said Mitsuru's voice in their minds. "Come back to the entrance."

"Aw, already?" Junpei whined. "I was hoping we could actually go to the next floor…"

Yukari huffed in annoyance. "Come on. Let's head back."

The first floor of Tartarus hadn't exactly been sprawling with Shadows, but there was still a fair number there. But now, as they slowly dragged their feet back to the entrance, the first floor was conspicuously empty.

Hiyori's knees nearly buckled when she saw Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Shinjiro in the atrium. "Good job," Mitsuru said with a proud smile.

Akihiko frowned sternly at Hiyori. "_You_ need to train more."

"She just got out of the hospital _yesterday_, you numbskull," Shinjiro muttered. "Give her a break."

"So are we coming back here tomorrow?" Junpei asked excitedly.

"Wait, you actually _want_ to come back?" Yukari cried. "Geez, we were barely in there for half an hour, and I'm already starting to feel sick…"

"Well of course we'll explore Tartarus in moderation," Mitsuru said, "but you three need to train in case we have to fight any Shadows like the one that attacked the dorm."

"Oh yeah, what was that about anyway?" Junpei asked.

Hiyori sighed as Akihiko launched into an explanation. She felt weak and feverish, and she wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep for the next day. She almost groaned at the thought of going to school the next morning, but she couldn't fall even further behind.

And then, something at the side of the atrium caught her eye.

It was a door – a door illuminated by blue light that hadn't been there when they first entered Tartarus. Hiyori walked toward it and placed her hand on its cool, metallic surface.

"What's that?"

Hiyori startled. She hadn't noticed Shinjiro following her, and all of a sudden, his presence was too large and too imposing. "I-I don't know…"

"Huh? What're you guys lookin' at?" All of a sudden, the rest of SEES was standing behind her, and Hiyori felt very, very small.

"Mitsuru, was this always here?" Akihiko asked.

"It's the first time I'm seeing it…" the club president replied.

"I don't like this…" Yukari mumbled. "Let's head back."

The door seemed to vibrate under Hiyori's touch, and there was _warmth_ coming from inside, if not in a physical sense. "It's okay," she found herself saying, and it was as if there was no one there in the lobby but her. "It should be fine. It doesn't _feel_ like anything malicious."

It wasn't until the words were out of her mouth that Hiyori remembered everyone else there – and how little sense her words probably made to them. Her face flushed scarlet as everyone blinked at her. "How do you know?" Mitsuru asked, always practical.

"I…" All confidence Hiyori had felt before was conspicuously absent, and she wrung her hands together. "I don't know…"

With one hand on her shoulder, Shinjrio gently pushed her aside and grabbed the doorknob. "Shinji, wait!" Akihiko yelled just after Shinjiro yanked the door open.

And then, Hiyori found herself in a room swathed in blue velvet.

"Wh-What is this place?"

"This _definitely_ wasn't here before."

"Whoa…"

"This is incredible!"

Hiyori walked to the center of the room, tilted her head upward, and closed her eyes. She felt _safe_ here, like she did on the nights when she could see Ryoji. There was a woman singing along to a piano – a soothing melody that made Hiyori feel like she was dreaming. When she opened her eyes, there was a shimmering golden butterfly fluttering above her. It flitted down close to her, so that it was at eye-level with her, and simply hovered there for a few slow moments.

And then, there was a spark in her mind, accompanied by the same waves of burning, searing pain as there were the night she first awakened her Persona.

"Oi!"

Shinjiro caught her as she fell. The pain faded much more quickly than it did the first time, and she didn't feel quite as drained afterward. "S-Sorry," she gasped. "I'm okay." Somehow, she felt more energized now than she ever had in her entire life.

Shinjiro didn't let go of her even as she tried to push him away. His large hands gripped her shoulders, anchoring her firmly to the ground. "We shouldn't be here," he said in a low voice. "We shouldn't have come here at all."

The golden butterfly continued to hover by Hiyori. "I'm fine," she told it, even though it didn't say anything. As if her response had satisfied it, the butterfly flew upward, away from her. She stood up without Shinjiro's assistance and exhaled slowly.

At the center of the room, in a large chair, there was a man with white hair and a long nose. A boy and a girl – both with white hair and golden eyes – flanked his sides, staring impassively forward. The man with the long nose slowly looked up to meet Hiyori's eyes and smiled. "Welcome to the Velvet Room."

"Let's head back," Yukari said again. "Senpai's right – we shouldn't be here."

The man with the long nose chuckled. "Oh, but you should. If you were not meant to be here, then you would not be here – it's quite simple." He chuckled again. "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

"Can you explain what this place is?" Mitsuru asked. "Why are we here?"

Igor's smile widened. "This is a place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. My master has granted you all the privilege of requesting my services."

"And what exactly do your services entail?" Mitsuru asked.

Igor grinned. "Are you aware of the many and varied selves within you, the gods and demons you harbor?" he said cryptically. "These selves… we call them Persona."

"You said there's more than one self," Hiyori said. "So that means… there's more than one Persona in us?"

He nodded. "Correct. Think of your Persona as a mask you wear for the world to see. Is it reasonable to expect one mask to fit every situation in which you find yourself?" With Igor's words, Hiyori suddenly became very aware of her fellow club members standing behind her. The mask fell back into place, after a brief respite where she was allowed to forget where she was and lose herself in the Velvet Room. "That is where our role starts."

"Then we will return when there is a need for new Personas," Mitsuru said briskly. "Now we really must be going. Come, everyone."

It wasn't until they were out of the Velvet Room that anyone spoke up. "Hey, you never said you could use more than one!" Junpei wailed.

"I didn't know that was possible," Yukari added.

"I don't think it is," Akihiko said. "It sounds like a scam."

"It isn't," Hiyori interjected. She looked back to the glowing silver door and resisted the urge to break away from the group to go back inside. Shinjiro didn't stray too far from her – and it only just now occurred to her how _strange_ it all was.

"How do you know, Mikage?" Mitsuru asked again. "Have you been there before?"

The mask fell back into place – Hiyori couldn't say when she'd lost it in the first place. She was causing trouble for everyone – leading them to the Velvet Room had been a terrible idea. "Never mind," she said quietly.

Mitsuru and Akihiko exchanged uneasy looks. Yukari frowned quizzically at her. Junpei rubbed the back of his neck in confusion. Shinjiro sighed.

No one pressed the issue.

* * *

Elizabeth was the first to break formation after the party had left. Theodore exhaled sharply just seconds after, slumping forward. "Was that everyone, Master Minato?" he asked.

Master Igor had closed his eyes – whether he was conscious to witness this conversation or not, Elizabeth couldn't tell.

"Yes." Minato stepped out from the shadows, his expression a tad bit more serious than usual. "At least… everyone who could conceivably be here at this point in time."

His face was half a shade paler than normal, and Elizabeth could see through it to the wall behind him. "It seems your power is waning," she said.

"Don't worry," he said – he said that a lot to her these days. "It always does around this time in the cycle."

"Master Minato…" Theodore said, concern evident in his expression. "You shouldn't push yourself."

"Would it be easier if I fought it again?" Elizabeth asked.

Minato waved his hand. "No, that's not necessary." The smile he gave her now was no different from the first that she'd seen. "You don't have to waste your strength like that, Elizabeth." He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. "I should be fine soon." He said that a lot to her these days, too. "Besides – it's better if they defeat it when it's at the peak of its strength."

The emotions that flooded her then were painful, but not foreign. Elizabeth clenched her fists. "Master," she said. If Master Igor had heard her, he did nothing to indicate it – and even if he didn't, then Master Belladonna and Master Nameless could tell him later. "I shall be leaving the Velvet Room for some time. There is something I need to take care of."

"Elizabeth…" Minato said, and his voice sounded so fragile and broken that it hurt even more.

There was something foul in the air – something foul had been stewing in the air for a long time – but Grand Master Philemon had done nothing to vanquish it. Or maybe he _could_ do nothing – Elizabeth wasn't sure. Either way, she had to see for herself what exactly it was. She left without saying another word.

* * *

Hiyori's lungs screamed as she flopped down tiredly on a bench near the Naganaki Shrine. "Hey, don't just sit down like that," Akihiko chastised her. "If you don't cool down and walk it off, you'll make yourself sick." He pulled her up with a seemingly effortless yank on her arm and didn't let her sit down again until she paced around the shrine's perimeter twice. "So, half a rep," he said. "Not bad for a beginner." But his voice was a tad bit strained which meant that, yes, Hiyori was absolutely hopeless in the physical department.

"I'm sorry," she said instead of gasped – she wasn't quite so out of breath anymore.

"Don't worry," Akihiko retorted. "You're still starting out. You'll get better."

"I couldn't even finish."

"I didn't expect you to." He glared at the cast on his arm. "I'd train with you too, if Mitsuru wouldn't bite my head off…"

According to Yukari, Akihiko's Persona was Achilles, a primarily physical fighter with a few Zio spells under his belt. It was Akihiko and Achilles that had weakened the Shadow that attacked the dorm to the extent that Hiyori could finish it off. But there were weaker Shadows in Tartarus that Hiyori couldn't defeat on her own and Akihiko had insisted that he'd barely done anything to the first Shadow, which made her victory over the first Shadow all the more bizarre, and… it made her head hurt just thinking about it.

Shinjiro had a Persona too – Patroclus, Achilles's brother – but he didn't use it, and no one was allowed to ask about it.

"You should join a sports team," Akihiko said. "They should be recruiting soon." Hiyori resisted the urge to groan – she and P.E. didn't quite get along well, to say the least. "Your Persona's supposed to get power from the strength of your heart, or something. But you can't rely only on that. Physical strength is everything." He punched the air in front of him with his uninjured hand for emphasis.

Hiyori couldn't help the tiny giggle that bubbled from her at that, and Akihiko grinned triumphantly. She stopped it before it could develop into full-blown laughter – Akihiko probably hadn't been trying to be _that_ funny anyway.

He gave her a strange look and reached down to pat her head like she was a small child. Her first instinct was to duck away, but Akihiko was faster, and his fingers soon weaved through her sweat-soaked hair. "I'll join a sports team," she said, because he'd assuredly stop… whatever this was if she protested.

"Good," he replied. "It'll get most of this basic training out of the way, and then you can focus on fighting Shadows." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Hmm… you didn't seem to be doing all that well with Mitsuru's sword last night. Maybe you can ask Yukari about joining the archery club?"

"Um…" Hiyori mumbled. "I-I'll just see which clubs are recruiting and go from there."

"Okay." He extended his arm toward her and grinned. "Let's jog back to the dorm."

Hiyori resisted the urge to groan.

* * *

Jin Shirato didn't react when Takaya casually strolled back into the apartment as if he hadn't been absent for the past day. There weren't any official _rules_ between the three of them, but it was generally agreed upon that you weren't supposed to ask about each other's business. Not that there was much _business_ to report on – Chidori had her painting, Takaya had… whatever it was he did, and Jin had his internet. Everyone had access to the Revenge Request site, with Jin having slightly more access than Takaya and Chidori by sheer virtue of being the site's creator.

But something was different this time – Jin couldn't quite put his finger on it. He knew that there'd been a request, even though Takaya had yet to say a word. Chidori picked up on it, too – she laid her paintbrush and easel down on the floor beside her.

"We have a job tonight," Takaya said uselessly. It was something huge and powerful, judging from his wide, almost deranged grin. "We're to eliminate a very special little lady named Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth?" Chidori echoed. "That sounds foreign."

"She's foreign in almost every sense you can think of," Takaya said. "I hear she's not of this world at all."

Something wasn't right, but Jin couldn't say _why _it was wrong or what was wrong about it. "Takaya…"

His leader looked to him, probably not intending to look quite as cold as he came off. "Is there a problem, Jin?"

It was probably nothing, Jin reasoned. Nothing outside the ordinary job, nothing that could inspire such alarm. He was just overreacting, even though there hadn't been any notifications on the Revenge Request site for more than a week, even though this job had come out of nowhere…

"No. Where will we find this Elizabeth?"

Takaya's grin widened. "You and Chidori can relax. I'll find her."

* * *

"Hey, transfer student!"

"Yuko, wait!"

Standing by the classroom on the opposite side of the hallway were two girls – one with brown skin and her dark hair tied into a small ponytail, and the other with paler skin and her darker hair tied into a longer ponytail.

"Oh, come on, Rio!" said the girl with darker skin. "She can totally help us!"

"She might not be into sports clubs, though!" the girl with longer hair protested.

"Hey, transfer student," said the girl with darker skin again, looking straight to Hiyori. "You interested in joining a sports club?"

Hiyori opened her mouth to protest, but then thought back to Akihiko's words the previous day. If she didn't follow Akihiko's advice, if she didn't catch up to Yukari and Junpei in the physical department, then she'd only be a burden on SEES.

"See?" the girl with long hair said. "She's not interested!"

"What kind of sports club?" Hiyori asked.

The girl with dark hair smirked triumphantly at her companion. "Naginatado," she said. "A little unconventional, but kind of cool, don't you think?"

"We'd only meet twice a week," said the girl with long hair. "Maybe Tuesdays and Thursdays. You'd be working with Yuko," she gestured toward the dark-skinned girl, "and me."

"So how 'bout it?" Yuko asked excitedly.

"Okay," Hiyori answered easily. A naginata was a weapon she'd be able to use in Tartarus, at any rate – and if she were to be trained in it, then it would certainly do her more good than Mitsuru's rapier did.

"Great!" both girls said in unison. "I'm Rio Iwasaki, by the way," said the girl with long hair.

"And I'm Yuko Nishiwaki!"

"I'm Hiyori Mikage," Hiyori said quietly. "Um… I'll do my best."

"Yes!" Yuko cheered, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Now we just need one more!"

"Two more," Rio corrected her.

"Kaz can be our team manager or something," Yuko said dismissively.

"Yeah, but did he already say that he'd join?"

"He will."

"Yuko, that's not even the same thing."

"Then why don't you ask _Kenji_ to join?"

"A-Absolutely not!"

"Um…" Hiyori chimed in. "I could ask Mitsuru-senpai. She might know of… someone…"

"Oh, that's right," Rio said. "You're in Kirijo's club, aren't you? That special one."

"The same one Yukari-chan's in, right?" Yuko asked. "That's perfect!" She paused and rubbed her chin. "Wait… doesn't student council meet today? We could ask her right now!"

"I don't think she'd appreciate it if we just barged in and advertised our nonexistent club, Yuko…" Rio muttered.

Still, they made their way to the student council's meeting room. Yuko gave Hiyori a gentle push in the door's direction. "It's all on you, Hiyorin."

"Hiyorin?" Hiyori echoed.

"Nicknames are essential in a club setting, Hiyorin," Yuko said sagely, holding her finger in the air.

"Oh yeah?" Rio retorted. "Where's mine, then?"

"I'm still working on it!" Rio snappd.

"Excuse me…"

A girl with long hair and glasses stood before them. She didn't quite look directly at them – instead, she fixed her gaze on the floor. "Yes?" Rio asked her. "What is it?"

"You're… kind of blocking the way…" the girl mumbled.

"Hey, you're Chihiro Fushimi, right?" Yuko asked. "That super smart first year who's in student council and everything?"

"Um…" the girl said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Please join our club!"

"Yuko!" Rio snapped. "Don't just spring it on her, just like that! I'm so sorry, Chihiro-chan…"

Mitsuru stepped out from the room that Yuko was blocking, her hands crossed over her chest. "Is there a problem?" she asked.

"Um…" Rio said slowly.

"W-Well…" Yuko stammered.

Mitsuru sighed. "Mikage?"

"W-We're trying to start a club," Hiyori explained. "A sports club. For naginatado."

"Naginatado?" Mitsuru echoed, raising an eyebrow. "I don't believe we have a club for that at our school."

"Exactly!" Yuko said cheerfully. "So we've got four members so far—"

"Kazushi hasn't agreed yet, so three," Rio interjected.

"Fine, _three_ members so far," Yuko corrected, "and we really want Chihiro-chan to join!"

The first year's face turned bright scarlet, and she stood behind Hiyori in a familiar stance to make herself look as small as possible – a stance that Hiyori was mirroring almost perfectly as she tried to hide behind Rio.

Mitsuru looked thoroughly amused as she glanced from Chihiro to Hiyori. "I don't see why not," she said. "It'll be good for you, Fushimi."

"Ah…" Chihiro stammered. "Y-You think so, Senpai?"

"If you can get the paperwork to me by the end of the week, I'll sign you off," Mitsuru said. "Now, Fushimi, we still have some business to take care of."

"R-Right away!" Chihiro said. She bowed to Hiyori, Yuko, and Rio. "Excuse me…"

"We'll be in touch!" Yuko called after her cheerfully. She clapped her hands together excitedly as the door to the student council meeting room slid shut. "Now, even though we don't have equipment and stuff, there's no reason we can't start training a little _early_."

"You know what, Yuko?" Rio said. "I couldn't agree more."

This time, Hiyori _did_ groan.

* * *

For the first time in a long, long time, the Velvet Room was silent. Theodore stood by Master Igor's side as he was supposed to, hoping that he didn't look quite as anxious as he felt. Even Master Nameless had stopped playing the piano and Master Belladonna had stopped singing – something had to be terribly wrong.

Grand Master Philemon looked even more translucent than usual, fluttering in the corner of the room as he always did. Master Minato was nowhere to be found.

"Theodore," Master Igor said, looking to him from the side of his large eyes. "Tell me – where is your sister?"

"I-I do not know, Master," Theodore answered. "She left last night, saying she had some business to take care of, b-but…" But she never said what exactly her business entailed. Was it defeating that monster again? No, Master Minato had specifically said not to engage it in battle, and there was no way Elizabeth would go against his orders.

Master Igor closed his eyes. "If she does not return by tonight," he said, "then I will have to ask you or Margaret to go search for her."

"That won't be necessary."

Master Minato didn't usually announce his presence, but he'd never quite suddenly appear in the Velvet Room as he did now. His body looked more opaque than it did the night before, but his expression was somber. Crumpled in his hands was a small blue cap.

Master Minato didn't have to say another word for Theodore to know exactly what had happened. "No…"

For the first time in a long, long time, Master Igor looked truly angry. "Tell me," he said in a shaking voice. "Who is responsible for this?"

The answer was obvious, but that didn't make it hurt any less. "Th-This has never happened before… has it?" Theodore asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"No," Master Minato answered.

"So we can fix this!" Theodore continued. He didn't care about how hysterical he probably sounded. "All we have to do is go back once more, and—"

"We can't," Master Minato said. His voice was dull, almost hollow. "And even if we did, it still wouldn't bring her back."

"No…" In that moment, Theodore abandoned all sense of professionalism. He sank to the floor, as if his legs could no longer support his weight, and didn't bother suppressing his sobs.

That night, the tune that Master Nameless played was a sorrowful one. Tears streamed down Master Belladonna's face as she sang, but her voice remained as clear and pristine as it was always supposed to be.

* * *

The next day, Takaya dumped the case for a computer game into Jun's lap – Avatar Tuner Online. Jin didn't play MMO's, but gifts from Takaya were rare, and Takaya's exorbitantly good moods were even rarer, so Jin couldn't bring himself to complain.

The fight the previous night had been brutal. The girl Elizabeth had been a small, doll-like thing, though she proved to be nowhere near as delicate as she looked. The look she'd given them was harsh and cruel, filled with so much hate that Jin couldn't help but wonder what he had done to wrong her. She summoned Persona after Persona after Persona from that tome of hers – that tome that Takaya had so gleefully claimed after it was all over.

As always, it was Chidori that revealed the cracks in Elizabeth's defense, few and far in between as they were. As always, it was Jin who pried those cracks open, weakening her even though there was no way he could defeat her on his own. As always, it was Takaya who led the assault, landing blow after impossible blow, drawing from strength that Jin didn't even know his leader had.

In the end, it was shock displayed on the girl's face as she went down. Jin shared her sentiment – he couldn't believe that they'd won either.

And for the first time in years, Takaya _laughed_. He laughed so loudly, so openly, so freely, like he was a child in an amusement park. Chidori visibly trembled as her face went utterly pale. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as if to hold herself together.

And Jin – Jin had sunk to his knees and emptied his stomach of everything he had eaten over the past day. Takaya later attributed it to the strain of the battle, but Jin didn't dare voice his thoughts. What they had done was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, _wrong_, but Jin couldn't, for the life of him, explain why – after all, Elizabeth wasn't the first person they'd killed for a job, and she likely wouldn't be the last.

The previous night's battle had taken so much out of him that he couldn't bring himself to get out of bed for most of the day. The image of Elizabeth's mangled body, shock and horror written permanently on her face, kept flashing through his mind, and every time it did, he'd have to make a trip to the bathroom to empty the contents of his stomach, even when there was nothing left there. Takaya attributed it to a stomach bug. Chidori made him drink water even though the mere sight of it made him feel sick.

He'd clearly done something horrible – but it was just another job. It shouldn't have been anything to worry about. If it made Takaya happy, then wasn't it all for the best?

Jin was half sure the light of his laptop screen would make him sick again, and yet he inserted the disk Takaya had given him anyway, if only to get his mind off things with mindless entertainment. A grey landscape offset by continuous rain appeared on the screen.

There was no one online, save for one other person. Jin didn't expect Takaya to be an expert on MMO's, but it was nice that he at least remembered Jin's favorite game as a child. The game's popularity had waned over the years, and now it did little more than collect dust on the most die-hard fans' shelves.

A black-haired girl dressed in grey and orange appeared on the screen. "Welcome!" she said. The avatar bounced with a cheerful smile. "I'm so glad you're here! I didn't think anyone else played this game…"

Jin smiled a little wistfully at her perfect spelling and grammar. She – maybe he, since it was hard to tell – was clearly trying to make a good impression on him. "Oh, you haven't created your character yet," said the text bubble above her head. "I'm Sera. It's nice to meet you!"

_Sera, huh?_ The name Serph came easily, and thankfully, the handle wasn't taken.

_Sera: "You played that game too?"_

_ Serph: "yeah they let me play it in the hospital"_

_ Sera: "The hospital? Oh no, were you sick?"_

_ Serph: "something like that"_

_ Sera: "I'm sorry… Are you feeling better now?"_

_ Serph: "yeah i guess…"_

For a moment, Sera said nothing. And then, for another few moments, ellipses flashed on and off by her handle name as she typed. Jin didn't wait for her to finish. He had to talk to someone – Takaya would get angry, and Chidori wouldn't understand.

_Serph: "what's the worst thing u ever did?"_

_ Sera: "That's a strange question…"_

_ Sera: "IDK"_

_ Sera: "I've never really thought about it"_

_ Sera: "HBU?"_

Jin groaned as he drew his knees to his chest and buried his face in them. When he looked back at the screen, there were several more messages from Sera.

_Sera: "Is everything ok?"_

_ Sera: "Do you want to talk about it?"_

_ Sera: "Serph?"_

_ Sera: "Are you still there?"_

He had a feeling that he'd regret what he was about to do – and yet, he couldn't stop himself.

_Serph: "i just did something horrible last night"_

_ Serph: "i can't take it back"_

_ Serph: "my brother's really happy about it tho"_

Jin looked away from the screen again. It was unreasonable to fear a stranger's response, and yet that was exactly why he couldn't look back at the screen. He hadn't revealed anything he'd done, but Sera probably hated him anyway.

_Sera: "if you think its wrong then its probs wrong"_

_ Sera: "apologize if u can"_

_ Sera: "try to make things right"_

_ Sera: "don't worry about what ur brother says"_

He couldn't help but laugh at the conspicuous absence of the perfect diction Sera had displayed earlier.

"Jin?" Chidori peered into the bedroom he and Takaya shared. "I'm going to the convenience store. Do you want anything?"

He looked back down at Sera's responses. She was typing something now, but he closed the laptop before she could finish – he'd apologize to her later. "I want to burn incense for someone," he said.

"For Elizabeth?" she guessed.

Jin winced. With how often Chidori spaced out and shrunk into her own little world, it was easy to forget how perceptive she was – though it was probably more Medea than Chidori this time around. "Yeah," he said. It was a gamble but maybe, just maybe, she'd take his side over their leader's. "Don't tell Takaya."

Her expression turned somber, and in that moment, Jin knew that Chidori felt exactly the way he did. "I won't," she promised.

It wasn't until long after she left that Jin opened his laptop again. There was a clumsily worded goodbye from Sera typed in all lower-case letters and riddled with missing punctuation, but she'd been offline for a good twenty minutes by now.

_Serph: "Thank you."_

_ Serph: "You saved me."_


	4. Something Wicked This Way Comes

_Featuring: more exposition and character development, less actual plot. Things will definitely pick up in the next chapter, though._

_Also, Hiyori is the world's chew toy - but what else is new?_

* * *

Everything was shrouded in white mist. Or maybe it was fog – it was hard to tell. It was a vast, white expanse, stretching out for as far as Hiyori could see.

"The cycle has begun anew," said a roaring voice, somewhere from farther up in the expanse.

Hiyori tried to take a step back, but she couldn't move. "Wh-Who's there?" she called out, her voice shaking. "What's going on?"

A shadow appeared before her, shrouded in white – a boy wearing a cap over his messy hair. "For the two thousandth time," the shadow said, "the cycle has begun anew."

"Wh-What cycle?" Hiyori stammered. There was none of the Velvet Room's serenity, Ryoji's warmth, Minato's stability – just emptiness. "I-I don't understand…"

Another shadow appeared before her, this time a girl with long, wavy hair. "We ask the mitochondria within you," she said, "have you ever pondered why humans are given life? Why the world exists?"

"Well…" Hiyori said slowly. "I… guess? I'm not sure."

Another shadow appeared – a tall boy with his bangs swept to the side. "The revolt of a single gear will merely delay time. The clock will continue to function as the other gears take the damaged gear's place."

A fourth shadow appeared, a girl with bobbed hair. "Time never waits," she said. "It delivers us all to the same end – and it will deliver you to oblivion."

And then, more and more shadows appeared behind the first floor. Hiyori couldn't make out their faces – the mist made it impossible to discern anything but the most superficial of traits. So she focused on their varying heights, their varying lengths of hair, the different ways they wore their school uniform.

And then, it hit her – they were all wearing some variation of the Gekkoukan High uniform. Every last one.

And there were hundreds of them – hundreds of shadows shrouded in white.

"Release us," they all said simultaneously.

"Wh-What are you…?"

"Release us," they said again. "Deliver us salvation from this wretched cycle."

The white mist became suffocating.

"Release us," the shadows said again. "Release us… Release us… Release us… Release us…" Their voices rose to a cacophony in Hiyori's mind, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

And then, she woke up with a shriek. The Dark Hour felt oddly comforting, even though she couldn't see the moon outside. Hiyori pulled the covers over her head and curled into herself. She was breathing too quickly, and her head hurt. _It's just a nightmare_, she told herself, though it felt like she hadn't woken up at all.

"Are you okay, Hiyori?" said a familiar voice from somewhere above her, sounding muffled through the blanket.

Hesitantly, she pulled the covers down from her head. Ryoji sat next to her on her bed, looking concerned. Hiyori could see the ceiling through him. She turned her head to face him, not entirely surprised at how much effort it took. "You came back…"

The smile he gave her didn't quite reach his eyes. "I thought I'd check up on you," he said. "Are you okay?"

Hiyori squeezed her eyes shut and saw white. "No…"

Ryoji took one of her hands in both of his, and it was enough to help her stop shaking. "Tell me about SEES," he said.

It wasn't the first time Ryoji had tried to distract her by changing the subject, but Hiyori was grateful for it all the same. "I don't know if I can do it," she whispered. "I can't keep up with everyone… and I think I'm getting sick. Again. I'm always getting sick. Why am I always getting sick?"

He looked to the side, and his smile became strained. "I'm sorry. It's going to be a new moon soon."

"And everyone—I'm causing trouble for them. I know I am. But they're not _saying_ anything, and I'm just tying them down, and I don't even know why they still want me here if I can't do anything, and I can barely keep up with school since I was in the hospital for more than a week, and…" A sob cut her off mid-tirade, and when she squeezed her eyes shut again, it was her dorm mates' faces that she saw, all of them showing various degrees of disappointment – and all of them shrouded in white mist. "Why am I even here…?"

Ryoji sat down next to her on the bed, and Hiyori moved to the other side to give him room. "It's hard," he said, "but I you can do it, Hiyori. I know you can. So don't give up, okay?"

Hiyori turned onto her side so that she could face him. "Can you stay?" she asked. "Until I fall asleep."

Ryoji gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "Of course," he said, "my dearest."

* * *

Jin was furiously typing away on his laptop again.

Chidori Yoshino wasn't one to get lonely, but with only two boys for company – Takaya, who spent his days outdoors doing "business," whatever that meant, and Jin, who spent his days indoors constantly online – the silence could get stifling at times.

She didn't know the details, but apparently Jin had made a friend through that game Takaya had given him the previous week, after the Job (she could no longer bring herself to even say the girl's name).

"Jin," she said and pretended not to notice when it took him more than a minute to even react. They never talked anymore – not that they ever talked that much to begin with, but there was a certain distance between her and her so-called brothers now that wasn't there before.

But Chidori wasn't a fool – she knew that there was something wrong with the Job, and she knew that Jin had noticed it too.

"The Job," she said. "Where did you get it?"

He nudged his glasses up his nose with his wrist. "Takaya got it."

"Then where did Takaya get it?"

"I don't know."

So that was it? End of discussion?

Chidori couldn't stay silent for a moment longer.

"Something is wrong."

Jin shut his laptop, and Chidori resisted the urge to smirk. "You think I don't know that?" He massaged his temples. "If only I had the slightest clue what it was… All I know is that it was wrong to… to take that job."

She pursed her lips together. The Kirijo Group was the authority on all things Persona, if her childhood memories were anything to go by – and supposedly, there was still a Kirijo attending the local high school.

"I want to attend Gekkoukan High." It wasn't a request – there was no end to what the Kirijo Group owed them, so there would be no problem with her enrolling in the school they sponsored. All she had to do was get into contact with the Kirijo attending the school, or even Ikutsuki-san, and then they could take it from there.

"Be quiet!" Jin hissed. Chidori fell silent and listened – no footsteps echoed through the apartment, and Medea sensed nothing. "Why do you need to go?"

"I'm worried about Takaya."

"Takaya knows what he's doing."

"Does he?"

His grimace made Chidori's chest hurt. "Let's talk to him first. Everything will be okay."

And then, Chidori hugged him for the first time since they were children. Jin didn't hug her back, but he leaned into her touch. The world felt too big, and it threatened to swallow them whole – just as it had always done. "Everything will be okay," she echoed because he needed to hear it more than she did.

* * *

"So, uh…" Yuko said slowly, hesitantly. "There's… no naginata club. The prez said no."

"What?" Rio shrieked. "What did she say?"

Hiyori sat with her fellow club members – well, former club members now, even though they never really started – in an empty classroom after school on a Saturday. Yuko stood at the front of the class at the teacher's podium, looking sheepish, while Rio sat on top of a desk in the front row and Chihiro sat behind Hiyori.

"I'm sorry, Senpai," Chihiro said quietly. "I-I tried to reason with her, but…"

"She said it was because equipment's too expensive, or something," Yuko said, "but she said we could make a culture club instead."

Hiyori crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. With how enthusiastic Yuko and Rio had been about the naginatado club, she didn't have the heart to tell them that she was actually thankful that she didn't have to participate in a sports club. "What kind of culture club?" she asked.

"Classics," Yuko said. "So… research. And writing. Stuff like that. Apparently, it was a pretty huge thing back in the day, but the club advisor died in the explosion ten years ago, and no one's bothered with the club since then. And…" She hung her head. "Mr. Ekoda's kind of making me follow through with this. Because my composition grades suck."

Rio sighed irritably. "It's your own fault for turning in a blank exam that one time."

"I wouldn't mind joining a club like this," Chihiro said. "I'll stay."

"Me too," Hiyori added.

"So…" Rio said slowly. "What now?"

"Oh, right!" Yuko said, suddenly energetic again. "The prez said that the old club advisor's parents have all the old anthologies the club published for culture festivals and stuff. It's the old couple that runs that book store in the strip mall, ya know? Kitamura, I think."

"All right," Rio said, sighing. "Let's check it out next week."

"Okay," Chihiro said quietly.

They parted ways then, and Hiyori walked alone to the school gates. She didn't expect to see Mitsuru there, standing outside and looking up at the cherry blossom petals falling. "Ah, Mikage," she said as Hiyori approached her. "I'm sure you've heard about the state of your club by now."

"Yeah, I did," Hiyori said. "Um… Akihiko-senpai said…"

"I know what he said," Mitsuru said, "but there's something I need you specifically to do." She smiled serenely. "Mikage, did you know that for this school's entrance exam, the score you need to pass is lower than that of other high schools' exams?"

"Yes, I did."

"And to qualify for a partial scholarship, you need a full twenty points higher than the passing score?"

"Yes."

"Tell me Mikage," Mitsuru said, her smile widening. "What score did you receive on this school's entrance exam?"

Hiyori looked downward, her face suddenly feeling hot. "One hundred percent," she said quietly.

"This school's entrance exam is rather difficult," Mitsuru continued. "To receive such a score requires a certain eye for detail. I want you to use that eye for detail for SEES."

"Ah…" Hiyori bowed her head. "O-Okay."

"We already have one person performing research for SEES," Mitsuru said, "but he specializes on how what we do affects people on the outside. I want you to research what happens on the _inside_ – the nature of Shadows, of Personae, and even of that dubious Velvet Room. It certainly won't be easy, but I don't think it should be much of a problem for you."

Hiyori bowed politely to her. "I'll do my best, Senpai."

Mitsuru smiled. "Good. Now, I believe you'll find Aragaki at Chagall Café. You can start there."

* * *

Nozomi Suemitsu was an honest and fair person. He really was – which was why he had absolutely no qualms about admitting that fellow classmate Shinjiro Aragaki honest-to-God scared the living daylights out of him.

A rather large reason was that Aragaki was stupidly popular, even though he had no reason to be – well, aside from hanging around Akihiko Sanada and Mitsuru Kirijo. What girls usually saw as "cool" and "mysterious," Nozomi saw as harsh and cruel.

And with that shady appearance, what reason was there to doubt Nozomi's judgment?

Aragaki sat in a booth at Chagall Café, a laptop and a wide array of papers and notebooks splayed out in front of him. Nozomi stood next to him for a good two minutes, but Aragaki didn't look up even once – didn't acknowledge his presence.

And really, guys like Aragaki had no right to be so cool, to be so popular. Hell, they didn't even have the right to _exist_.

_Wait…_ Nozomi backtracked. _What?_

A world without Aragaki – such a world was definitely possible, and infinitely superior to a world with him. No one except Sanada and maybe Kirijo would miss him, after all. And there would be no place for Aragaki in Paradise, either.

And so, Nozomi giggled.

"Do you mind?" Aragaki muttered then, still refusing to look up at Nozomi.

Nozomi puffed his cheeks. "Wh-What's your problem?"

"You're in the way, Suemitsu."

Nozomi clenched his fists. "Y-You…"

And then, Aragaki finally looked up. But he didn't look to Nozomi – no, he looked to someone behind Nozomi. "Kirijo said you'd be coming," Aragaki said, his voice gentler.

"U-Um…" A rather short girl stepped around Nozomi and slid into the seat across from Aragaki. She wore a light pink sweater over black pants instead of the Gekkoukan High uniform, but Nozomi knew she attended his school. Her dark brown hair was tied into two loose ponytails that left a lot of loose strands hanging limply over her face. Her face was slightly pale, and there were dark circles collecting under her eyes. "Mitsuru-senpai said to help with research." She pulled an old, bulky laptop out from her bag and set it on the table in front of her.

Aragaki pushed one of the notebooks toward her. "This should be the one with the stuff Kirijo wants you to research. I got nothing."

They didn't notice when Nozomi shuffled away – no one ever did. And that girl – that girl had even less of a right to exist than Aragaki did. It was an unquestionable truth, and Nozomi didn't even need the image of a blue-haired boy he didn't recognize to tell him that.

No, there would be no place for either Aragaki or the girl in Paradise – absolutely not.

* * *

"Apathy syndrome?" Hiyori said.

"So you know Shadows supposedly feed on the mind?" Shinjiro asked. The two of them sat together at Chagall Café, laptops open and notes strewn across the table. "Apathy syndrome makes people go… catatonic? I dunno…"

She picked up one of the sheets of paper closer to his side of the table. "And the number of cases usually rises this time of the month, right?"

"Yeah." He shut his laptop and yanked the charger out of one of the sockets on the side. "What about you? You find anything?"

Hiyori sighed. She rested her elbows on the table and clasped her hands together before her. "Not really," she said. "There was something about the Persona game that kids used to play, but I'm not sure…"

She didn't expect him to smile at that. "Oh yeah, that thing. Aki and I played it back in the day." His expression was warm, gentler than she'd ever seen it. "Did you play it too?"

"Um…" Hiyori stared downward. She'd been feeling overly tired all day, but now, she felt a little feverish on top of it. It was a little disconcerting to think that she was getting sick so soon after being released from the hospital, but this had happened so often that she couldn't say she was surprised – just disappointed. "Yeah, with Yukari-chan… a long time ago." She slumped forward, her forehead falling into her hands.

"You okay?"

"Mm-hm." It was a lie – and Shinjiro didn't look all that convinced by it. Resting her head against something made her feel less dizzy, and if she stayed like that for a few more seconds, then she'd surely be able to make it back to the dorm without relying too much on him. Mitsuru had said earlier that she wanted to go to Tartarus tonight, but now there was no way Hiyori could make it through another training session without collapsing again. It was never really a good place to be – and yet Hiyori always found herself back here, causing trouble for the people she lived with.

He began packing his things into his bag, and then proceeded to pack her things as well. "Geez," he muttered irritably. "You need to speak up about these things. Don't just keep it to yourself if you're not feeling well." When he was done, he removed his red coat and tossed it to her. "Put this on."

The coat felt warmer and more comforting than any sweater she owned – probably because it wasn't hers to begin with. In a moment of wishful thinking, she wanted to forget everything and just melt into the coat. She let her eyes slip closed as she wrapped the coat even more tightly around herself.

"I'm sorry…" she said quietly.

"It' fine, it's fine," Shinjiro replied as he zipped the bags shut. "Don't apologize for things that aren't your fault." He stood up and slung both bags over his shoulder. "Can you walk?"

"I think so…" Hiyori replied slowly, hesitantly. She stood up and swayed unsteadily on her feet.

"That means you can't," Shinjiro said bluntly.

Hiyori opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't think of anything to say that would convince him that she could walk perfectly by herself – and she likely couldn't, the more she thought about it. So when Shinjiro lifted her onto his back and insisted on carrying her back to the dorm, she didn't say anything, didn't even apologize in case he reprimanded her for doing so again.

The journey back home was a slow one, as Shinjiro was trying to avoid exacerbating her condition with any sudden movements, and Hiyori let herself rest her head against him.

It felt strange, to rely on him like this without being reprimanded for it, but it wasn't a bad feeling – not at all.

"You're late," Mitsuru said as they entered the dorm together. "Did you forget that we're going to…" She trailed off when she saw Hiyori on Shinjiro's back, too weak to even slightly lift her head.

"We're not going to Tartarus," Shinjiro said bluntly as he headed for the stairs.

"What happened?" Akihiko asked. "Are you okay?"

"Nothing, and no," Shinjiro answered for her again. "She's just a little under the weather."

"Again?"

Shinjiro glowered at him before heading up the stairs. He didn't let Hiyori down from his back until they were right outside her room. "Don't sleep yet," he said. "You still need to drink medicine."

"I'm sorry," Hiyori said quietly.

"It's fine, it's fine," he said. "Just say something when you're not feeling well next time."

She handed his coat back to him, shivering once it was gone and missing its warmth, and opened the door. "I'll be back soon," he said.

"Mm," she said in response.

True to his word, he was back just a few minutes after she'd changed and climbed into bed, carrying a tray with food and medicine.

"Th-Thanks for the food," Hiyori stammered as she lifted the lid on the bowl before her. The rice porridge was warm and impossibly delicious – just like the lunch he had given her before. She didn't deserve it – not when she was causing so much trouble for everyone. "I'm sorry," she said again.

"Don't apologize for things that aren't your fault," he said.

She was getting full, but she forced herself to keep eating – after all, she'd only barely made a dent in the rice porridge. It was a little disconcerting to think that she'd gotten sick so soon after being released from the hospital, but this had happened so often that she couldn't say she was surprised – just disappointed.

When she made it halfway through the bowl, he promptly covered the bowl with the lid. "You don't have to force yourself to eat," he said. "Just take your medicine and get some rest."

Shinjiro didn't leave even after Hiyori finished drinking the cold medicine he had brought her and lying back down. "I'm sorry," she said again.

"What did I just say?" he said in response.

"Sorry."

He sighed harshly. "Look… you're not causing us any trouble, even if you think you are." He clasped his hands together and looked down. "It's rough, being an orphan. I get it. But you don't have to worry about sucking up to us. If we didn't want you in SEES, then you wouldn't be here. And didn't Kirijo just ask you to do stuff, too?"

"But I can't do anything…" Hiyori protested weakly.

"You took down that Shadow that attacked the dorm in one go," he pointed out. "You're working hard. You're crazy smart. What else is there?"

"But I got sick again!" Hiyori exploded then, the dam bursting. "My body's really weak, and I'm always getting sick, and my stamina's awful, a-and—"

"We can't all be protein-obsessed meat tanks," Shinjiro retorted. "You can't help that stuff. Well, except the stamina thing, but that's not gonna change overnight, and you're already working hard on that." His hand landed tightly on top of her forehead, and it rested there for a few moments – a comforting presence, instead of something too large and too imposing. "So relax. Don't be so hard on yourself. The most you can do right now is get better soon. And actually say something next time you're feeling sick."

Hiyori turned onto her side so that she faced him. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and she couldn't help smiling. "Okay," she said, sighing contentedly. "Thanks, Senpai."

* * *

Takaya talked to himself a lot these days.

Talking to yourself wasn't a good thing or bad thing in and of itself – it was a Persona thing. Jin often muttered irritably to Moros as he typed code. Chidori herself had the most delightful conversations with Medea – when Medea wasn't trying to strangle her, of course.

But Takaya never talked to his Persona – not unless something was wrong.

"Is Hypnos bothering you, Takaya?"

The eerie green light of the moon illuminated the apartment, making Takaya's ensuing grin look all the more sinister. But this was Takaya, her brother in every sense if not by blood – he would never hurt her.

"Everything's fine, Chidori. Wouldn't Medea have picked up on it?"

She handed him the bottle of pills tucked into her sleeve. "You haven't been taking your medicine."

"Chidori, I'm fine. I don't need it."

"Takaya."

He gave her a familiar half-amused, half-exasperated smile. "All right, all right." He twisted open the pill bottle and shoved a small handful of pills into his mouth – they never bothered measuring the exact dosage anyway. "Happy?"

But Chidori had had enough of this constant tiptoeing around Takaya in fear of invoking his wrath. If Jin couldn't confront him, then she would. "Takaya, where did the Job come from?"

"What job?" he asked so casually, it was as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Chidori called his bluff. "You know what job."

He froze, his fingers tightening around the glass bottle. "Does it matter?" he asked in a low, dangerous whisper.

"Takaya, we almost died."

She didn't mean to raise her voice – but Takaya stood up anyway, towering over her with a sneer painted on his face. And for the first time in a long, long time, Chidori was afraid to die.

"And what is that, if not a testament to how weak you are?"

She didn't realize that she'd raised her hand until Takaya grabbed her wrist, crushing it ruthlessly. "Takaya…" His grip tightened. "Takaya, you're hurting me."

He didn't release her arm so much as throw it back at her. "And since when are you afraid of being hurt?" He sat back down, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "What's gotten into you, Chidori?"

She turned to leave the room. _Don't bring Jin into this_, she told herself over and over again. _Don't even mention him._

"I could ask you the same thing," she said coldly. She pretended not to notice when Takaya started talking to himself again.

* * *

For the first time, Ryoji woke Hiyori just a few nights after their previous meeting. There was no nightmare he had to save her from, and nothing about the Dark Hour that forced her awake – no, he was just _there_, shaking her gently by the shoulder with a serious expression. "Ryoji…?"

"Sorry to wake you," he said as Hiyori rubbed her eyes. "Are you feeling better, Hiyori?"

"Yeah, it looks like it was just a one-day thing…" she mumbled.

Ryoji gave her a strained smile. "Good," he said. "Listen… a full moon is coming, and… something's going to happen."

"Really? How do you know?"

He shook his head. "I just do. I'm worried, Hiyori…"

Ryoji was always the one comforting her – it was the first time he was actually voicing his concerns, and that was reason enough to worry.

So, just like he did a few nights ago, she took his hands in her. "I'll be okay, Ryoji," she said. "I promise."

He squeezed her hands back. "Okay… Get some rest, okay? Don't overdo it."

Hiyori sighed and closed her eyes. "I'll be fine."

The following morning, she wouldn't be able to say whether she fell asleep first, or if Ryoji left first – but she was eternally grateful for his company all the same.


End file.
